Garden Planner, Jan. 11

Jan. 10, 2014

Written by

Stephanie Bruner

Special to the Register

This week

• If you’re overwintering small trees or shrubs in your unheated garage or garden shed, check the soil moisture. If the soil is still frozen, they’re fine. But if it’s powdery dry, give them a drink.

• While you’re checking trees and shrubs in containers, make sure they’re not sitting near puddles of salty water from your tires — this could kill the plant if the soil takes up the salt. And be sure they’re not sitting near a sunny window, either — they need to stay cold so they’ll stay dormant until spring.

• After you check trees and shrubs, check any warm-season bulbs, tubers or rhizomes that you’re overwintering — if they’re slightly shriveled, mist them with water. If you see rotten ones, remove them ASAP to keep the rest from rotting. If one has a small mushy spot, cut it out with a sharp kitchen knife, let the bulb dry for a day or two, then place it back with the others.

This month

• When you water your house plants, check them for spider mites. Signs include webbing on the underside of leaves, a bronzed or stippled look on the tops of the leaves, and tiny moving black dots (usually on the undersides of leaves) that are the mites themselves. It’s often possible to remove spider mites by setting the plant in the kitchen sink or shower and directing a stream of water at the stems and undersides of leaves with a hose or a spray bottle. You may need to do this a couple of times to remove all mites.

• Start rounding up supplies for seed starting, including soil-less seed starting mix, containers (peat pots or any small containers you have available — yogurt cups work well), grow lights, and if necessary, a heat mat. (Use a mat intended for use under seed-starting flats — using a heating pad intended for humans can start fires.)

Stephanie Bruner is a freelance writer from Des Moines who has a degree in horticulture.